Hanford Laboratories Operation Monthly Activities Report February, 1959

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This repori was prepared as an account of Government sponsored work. Neither the United States, nor the Commission, nor any person acting on behalf of the Commission: A. Makes any warranty or representation, express or implied, with respect to the accuracy, completeness, or usefulness of the information contained in this report, or that the use of any information, apparatus, method, or process disclosed in this report may not infringe privately owned rights; or Assumes any liabilities with respect to the use of, or for damages resulting from- the use of any information, apparatus, method, or process disclosed in this report. As used in the above, "person acting on behalf of the Commission" includes any omployee or contractor of the Commission to the extent that such employee or contractor prepares, handles or distributes, or provides access to, any information pursuant to his employment or contract with the Commission.

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Route To: P.R. No. Location Route Date, MONTHLY ACTIVITIES REPORT W738 Signature and Date This report was prepared only for use within General Electric Company i n the course of work under Atomic Energy Commission Contract W-31-109-Eng-52. Any views of opinions expressed in the report are those of the authors only.

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Atomic Energy Commission, Hanford Operations Office E. J. Bloch, Director, Division of Production, Savannah River Operations Office, Aiken, South Carolina

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TABLE OF CONTENTS General Summary.....................vi through xiii Reactor and Fuels Research and Development Physics and Instrument Research and Development Employee Relations Operation ............. I- 1 through 1-6 Force Report and Personnel Status Changes ............V

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Manager, Operations Research and Synthesis ....C. A. Bennett Manager, Physics and Instrument Research and Manager, Employee Relations Manager, Reactor and Fuels Research and

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Costs f o r February were $1,662,000, an increase of $53,000 over t h e month of Adjustments were made tothe budget during the month to reflect the AEC ceiling of $6,500,000 on 4000 Program work and also to include the new funds authorized for t h e fabrication of transplutonic elements. Fiscal year-to-date costs are 59$ of the operating budget of $20,730,000. 1. Reactor and Fuels Possible PRTR loss of coolant incidents a r e being studied under a Hanford contract by Bat tell e Memorial Institute. The status of PRTR construction i s as follows: Phase I construction i s 7s complete versus 8 9 scheduled, Phase I1 construction i s 74% complete versus 8@ scheduled, and Phase 1 1 - A construction i s 4% complete versus 39$ George Grant Company was awarded the Phase I11 PFPP construction contract. The PF'PP building construction i s 77$ complete, with 864 scheduled. Experimental runs with the PRTR Mark 11-b f u e l element showed flow and temperature distributions which were very close t o design. included localized bulk boiling did not cause hydraulic instability. One run which deliberately A t the request of the Division of Reactor Development the gas-cooled loop facility to be installed in the F'RTR will be scoped for maximum gas temperatures A swaged !$-rod fuel assembly thirty inches in length has reached 1600 MWD/T in fuel capsules have attained an exposure of 5600 MWD/T inthe MTR. Irradiation of a swaged rod 1.44 inch i n diameter t o approximately Solutions were found t o problems of swage feeding and end closures f o r the experimental fabrication of PRTR fuel elements. has been markedly increased by improved etching techniques and cladding The quality of t h e elements The experimental casting of plutonium-aluminum billets has been initiated employing new cryolite process and remelting equipment. successfully c a s t with 0 . 5 , 1.8, and 5.0 weight per cent plutonium, with variations no greater than +, 4 per cent of the nominal compositions. Billets have been The 280-ton extrusion press has been activated for extrusion of Pu-Al alloys. Aluminum and aluminum alloys have been successfully die-cast i n t o 6-ft long, 1/2-inch diameter tubes by the Kw t Machine Compsny operating under a Hanford stainless steel, and aluminum. Tubing materials employed have included Zircaloy, The first 25 completed Zircaloy-2 process tubes for the PRTR are expected t o be ready for final inspection a t Tube Reducing Corporation during March.

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Macrocracks and microcracks have been detected inall of the rods from the four coextruded Zircaloy-clad 4-rod cluster fuel elements recently discharged from Several microcracks were observed in the bonding l a y e r of one of A pronounced Fmprovement i n smoothness of the uranium-Zircaloy interface was observed i n rods formed by coextrusion of fine grained alpha-rolled cores rather than beta heat treated cores. A simple, fast method f o r attaching high quality end caps t o coextruded rods has been developed. A resistance weld between t h e end cap and the face of the f u e l rod i s followed by a fusion weld using the electron beam welding process. The relative quality of closures of Wrcaloy-clad fuel rods is being evaluated (by a destructive test method) by apply hg a high internal hydraulic pressure between t h e end cap and the uranium. Controlled laboratory t.ests have shown t h a t Zircaloy-2 with an etched ZrO2 surface film c m be hydrided with oxygen-free hydrogen gas at high temperatures but not below about 350 C. was removed from the L-42 position i n the MI3 after a successful four-cycle exposure, and L-42 was recharged w i t h new graphite samples (both TSGBF and CSF types) t o be exposed until the end of April. adapt the MTR L-48 shim rod for similar graphite testing has been fabricated and has successfully passed "drop t e s t s " at the MTR. The rod pick-up mechanism t o Heat transfer experiments indicate that the Panel lit system of a C Reactor will continue t o furnish protection when the reactor i s operated with a ruptured rear hydraulic header. A new experimental polyurethane plastic from B. F. Goodrich Chemical Company (Estsne VC) i s among the best plastic materials tested to date in tern of resistance t o gamma irradiation at room temperature. 2. Chemical Research and DeveloDment A pre lh in ary experiment wherein Pu02 was added t o an NaCl KC1-MgC12/Mg-Zn system at 1000 C resulted i n 54 per cent of the plutonium being reduced. This yield, although not high, is quite encouraging and o f f e r s promise of a simple process for direct reduction of plutonium oxide. The simultaneous recovery of neptunium and plutonium by anion exchange of nitrite treated Purex 1WW was demonstrated on a one liter scale in the 222-S Multicurie cell. Using filtered plant waste, recovery of both neptunium and plutonium exceeded 70 per cent, and radiation damage t o the r e s i n was very Studies related to neptunium recovery include further laboratory pilot tests i n the "mini" mixer-settler t o improve Purex operations; more work on a contactor concept t o "trap" neptunium inthe Purex plant between the 1BX and 1C columns; and a detailed investigation of the nitrite - nitrate system characteristics in Purex.

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The use of ion exchange resins to recover plutonium from Recuplex feed and waste streams was further explored. A new analysis of the probable path and rate of movement of ground water from beneath 200 Areas disposal sites was prepared, incorporating the latest permeability measurements. The average velocities calculated along the most probable path of movement resulted i n an average water travel time t o the Columbia River of about 150 years. A closed circuit TV system was used for the first time t o examine inside surfaces of monitoring w e l l casings. Perforation geometry, orientation, and the general condition of the w e l l were observed. Centrifuge tests with actual soils from beneath BC trenches resulted i n measured specific retention of 2 per cent which compares favorably with the 4 per cent moisture content measured i n samples from this s i t e . Tests with Touchet soils were found t o give 14 per cent specific retention but these materials are not representative of the actual trench sites. I n work for the Non-Production Fuels reprocessing, a series of test runs were completed inthe Niflex pilot dissolver and the system operated satisfactorily. Dissolution of stainless steel near the bottom of the dissolver is not as rapid as intermediate and top zones. The reason f o r this behavior is under Laboratory tests related t o the Sulfex process show that irradiated uranium metal reacts with boiling 4M sulfuric acid a t the same rate as unirradiated metal; dissolved stainless steel had no effect on these rates. Some encouraging results are reported for weld materials to join Hastelloy F. Improved corrosion of the welded zone without costly heat treatment is sought. Refinements i n process continue with further Darex pilot plm t tests. A number of tests were completed t o study the evolution of radioisotopes from Iodine, tellurium, cesium, ruthenium, strontium, and barium radioisotopes were measured as they evolve from the oxidizing specimen. of the total inventory of each element follow the order listed. tiveness of air filters to retain volatile radioisotopes was also studied. Scouting experiments indicated an improvement i n U, UX1 separation inthe UX1 (!Ph-23$ removal, when confirmed, will make this salt flux purification method even more effective for removing activity from Al-U-233 systems. The improvement in 3 . Physics and Instrument Research and Development Measurements t o determine safe critical it y limits when dissolving 0.95$ enriched fuel elements have been completed at Oak Ridge. of these measurements indicates that they do not warrant any increase in critical mass limits above those which we originally set for this dissolver. Measurements are continuing locally to determine similar information for handling 3$ enriched fuel elements. w e have gone t o smaller diameter rods In our experiments. With 0.3-inch rods this mass is of the order of 200 lbs. Here the critical mass has decreased as

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For the production reactor development program measurements continued on the lattice constants for 2-1/2" O.D. solid fuel elements. now been completed for two lattice spacings for this element. continued on the measurement of parameters for cluster elements in the PCTR. In the Plutonium Recycle Program consistent corrections for perturbing effects were made t o all the data previously obtained i n the PCTR on heavy water moderated lattices ; significant improvements in the accuracy and consistency of t h e data were obtained. The portable towers needed for this summer's experimental program i n atmospheric physics were received from the U.S. Army Signal Corps. other equipment for this program is proceeding on schedule. In the Shielded Personnel Monitoring Station it was discovered that some dust had been entering the room by bypassing the filters. reduced the background and improvements t o the filter system have been made t o A technique for detecting Na worked out f o r possible use in the event of a nuclear accident. Clean-up of the dust 24 i n people with equipment available on site was Inthe basic data field it was established that cross-section measurements on bulk lots of reactor grade graphite made by American, British and French laboratories arein agreement within experimental uncertainties. However, OUT measurements a r e consistently a few per cent higher than those obtained by the French and British on the same samples. Satisfactory progress was made on the many projects i n the instrument field, among which were the radiotelemetering stations and the nuclear incident In the systems field, considerable attention was directed toward the problem of moderator level and fuel temperature oscillations in the PRTR t o determine whether the natural periods for these oscillations were sufficiently close together t o warrant investigation of possible resonance effects in this Radioactive contamination of l i f e forms showed no notable changes. After several false starts, it appears that eAcellent progress i s being made i n culturing the organism Columnaris. on the possible influence of reactor effluent on the infestation of Columbia River fish by this organism. This will permit controlled experiments We have previously pointed out that gastrointestinal absorption and deposition of radioelements change with age of t h e animals. tr bution i n organs also changes with age. It now appears that d is - This occurred i n recent work on Some groups actively engaged in fallout measurements use an "observed ratio " o r OR which implies a constant discrimination factor for concentration of,

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for ex mp le, Srgo rith respect t o Ca. DTPA does not appear to offer much promise as a drug for oral use in treating Lo al work has shown this to be unreThis month, even more variability in "OR" for Cs137/K This observation was made using bean plants. Approval was received from the AEC tore - irradiate in the IQR and ETR 20 of the previously irradiated Pu-A1 elements fabricated a t Hanford last summer. This r e - irradiation, which has already started, will provide about 2 kg of plutonium, part about 20 w/o and part about 40 w/o hr-240 + 241 + 242, for use i n the measurement of physics parameters i n the PCTR. Negotiations were started with the local AEX concerning release for PRP use of the high exposure plutonium which will be recovered from the seven ton stock of irradiated depleted uranium now at Hanford. T h i s material should produce about 9.3 kg of plutonium of about 1 4 w/o Pu-240 content. three t o four tons of similar material now i n process of irradiation. Also under consi&ration i s the A new computer code, MELEAGER A, was developed f o r use with t h e IBM-709 computer. The code, an enlarged and improved version of earlier codes used with the IBM - 650 computer, will handle up t o 140 different materials subject t o burnup and shifts and energy spectrum changes during irradiation. Special features include ability to treat neutron flux Analytical work was completed on IBM-650 computer analysis of two aspects of plutonium fuel utilization. compositions i n spzcific reactors under construction orin operation as part of an AEC requested effort,jointly with ANL and OIWL, bearing on evaluation of plutonium pricing policies. associated with stainless - steel cladding (as an alternate to cladding witha lower cross -section) of plutonium fuels. The first examined plutonium feed of various The second examined the special characteristics Analysis was completed and a report &art prepared concerning t h e calculation of the reactivity worth of plutonium and uranium-235 as enrichment i n thermal Results, subject t o qualifications noted in the report, show that the value of a gram of fissile material (Pu-239+ Pu-241) i n extending the exposure life of U-238 as fuel in efficient reactors i s greatest i f the fissile material i s ing i n that order. In view of AEC interest in …